in my 96, my 4x4 will shift into 4wd but the front wont spin, i had my dad switch it while i was under it, and its engaging, so?? i was told a few things, like possible vacuum leak or that the actuator? that engages it fully is bad, any ideas?

I had an axle shaft go bad in my cummins. Same set up. There's a bushing in there that could be bad and won't alot the sector shaft engage into shaft to fully lock it in. Dodge is also known for the actuator to go bad. Of that's the case pull it off the axle housing and see if its shifting side to side

little late, but with winter comming up, im going to pull the actuator and see if thats the problem.

If it is the same design as the YJ's were you can simply slide the actuator over by hand, my housing had a threaded hole with a bolt in it in just the right spot. I removed the bolt and installed a longer one to keep the actuator fork in place to hold the collar in place correctly. Disconnected the vacuum lines and never looked back. My front axle now acted like that of a TJ or other with non disconnect. May be worth checking into.